A Meeting in a Hospital
by Durbe the Barian
Summary: A single meeting in a hospital can make a big difference in a person's life.


**Zexal Oneshot:**

**A Meeting in a Hospital**

**Romance/Friendship**

**Kaito/Rio**

**A single meeting in a hospital can make a big difference in a person's life.**

**(I don't own Zexal. If I did, the dub version wouldn't have cut the 'weird summoning sequence' for Neo Galaxy-Eyes so often.)**

* * *

A Meeting in a Hospital

* * *

Rio's tears wouldn't stop.

Her brother was in the hospital, getting his shoulder taken care of. She couldn't help but blame herself for his injury. If she hadn't taken his deck, if she hadn't forced him to chase after her, then he wouldn't have gotten hurt. That armor wouldn't have fallen down and sliced him like that. Their parents were saying that it wasn't that big a deal, and that the cut wasn't too bad, but that didn't stop her from feeling terrible.

She was walking through the hospital, her head hung low. After walking around in a daze for the better part of an hour, she finally looked up and realized that she was lost.

What floor was she on? Where were her Mom and Dad? Where the heck was Ryoga?

Fear froze her in place when the realization hit her. "Okaa-san?" she called. "Otou-san? Nii-san? Where are you?"

She then started running down the halls, all the while still calling out their names. But nobody answered her.

No. There was nobody who **could** answer her. The entire floor was empty. She couldn't find a single soul who could help her out; who could tell her where she was. Her tears started to flow again, fogging her vision as she ran. Her tears made it impossible for her to see someone turning a corner, and her legs wouldn't stop in time.

They collided.

"Ow...," she groaned, holding her head.

"Sorry about that," the person said. "Need a hand up?"

She then looked up.

The person who she ran into was a boy, slighter taller than herself, with blond hair and a green fringe. Kind, grey eyes were staring down at her, a slightly calloused hand held out to her. He was wearing a t-shirt with two horizontal stripes, one larger than the other, and a pair of jeans and sneakers. A small scar was visible on his wrist, probably from an accident.

"Are you okay?" he asked, almost asking if she needed a hand again.

"Oh!" Rio exclaimed. "I'm fine." To prove it, she jumped up and cleaned her dress up. "Sorry about bumping into you."

"It's okay," the boy said. "My little brother does it all the time."

"Hmmm," went Rio. She then looked around. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I was actually about ask you the same thing," the boy said. "You lost?"

Rio could only nod.

"Do you remember what floor you're looking for?"

"Yeah," Rio said. "Floor 7."

"That's right above us," the boy said. "Come with me. I'll take you there."

"Oh, no," Rio exclaimed. "You don't have to do that. I don't want you to go out of your way for me."

"No big deal," the boy said. "I have to go up there anyway."

With that, she accepted his offer.

"I'm Rio," she said.

"I'm Kaito*," the boy replied, taking hold of her hand.

* * *

Rio quickly learned that Kaito knew how to navigate around the hospital with little effort. He quickly found the elevator and rode it to the next floor to the hospital, all the while keeping Rio's hand in his own. As soon as they exited the elevator, they heard a woman calling. "Rio-chan! Rio-chan!"

Rio jerked her head to the source.

It was her mother.

"Okaa-san!" Rio cried, running over to her mother in a heartbeat. Within seconds, she was in her mother's arms, sobbing her eyes out.

"Don't scare me like that again," Rio's mother said, tears falling down her own face. "Where were you anyway?"

"I was downstairs, on the next floor," Rio explained. "Kaito-kun helped me."

"Really?" Rio's mother then looked up to Kaito.

"It wasn't that big of a deal, ma'am," he said. "I actually have someone I wanna visit on this floor myself, so it wasn't any trouble."

"Well, thank you just the same," Rio's mother said.

"Arigato, Kaito-kun!" Rio said happily.

"Do Itashimashite." (If I spelled that wrong, inform me.)

Then Kaito left, heading for another hospital room.

* * *

Several days later, when Ryoga was finally let out of the hospital, Rio was doing some more 'exploring,' as she had put it. If there was a door open, she peeked in. One such door answered a question she had asked herself several days earlier.

Who was it that Kaito was looking for?

Inside one of the rooms was a woman, sound asleep in her bed, Kaito holding her hand. She silently walked in and looked closer. The woman had long, teal hair with a light blue fringe. Her skin was a sickly pale and on her left hand was a wedding ring.

"Is she your mother?" Rio asked quietly.

Kaito jerked his head towards Rio, having not heard her come in. "Rio-chan," he said. "When did you get in here?"

"Just now," Rio said. Then she looked back over to the woman. "Is she your mom?"

Kaito looked over to the woman and softly nodded. "She hasn't been feeling very well for a while," he said.

"I'm sorry," Rio said. "I didn't know."

"It's okay," Kaito said.

"Kaito, is that you?"

Both children looked up. The woman was awake now. "Okaa-san!" Kaito exclaimed, his voice barely above his normal tone. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling okay, dear," his mother responded. She looked over to Rio, who was at the foot of the bed. "Who is this little lady?"

"I'm Rio," the child responded. "Nice to meet you."

"Such good manners," Kaito's mother said. Her eyes narrowed for a moment as she kept her gaze on Rio. "You're a good child." She then looked over to Kaito, who was rubbing his eyes when he thought she wasn't looking. "Kaito, have you been awake all night again?"

"Huh?" went Kaito. "Uh..."

"You know you can't hide very many things from me," Kaito's mother said.

Kaito then turned bright red. "I'm fine, Okaa-san," he said.

Rio then looked up to the clock. "Oh," she exclaimed softly. "I have to get going. My parents will be worried again."

"I'll walk with you," Kaito said. "You don't want to get lost again, do you?"

Now it was Rio's turn to turn bright red. "Arigato."

"I'll be right back, Okaa-san," Kaito said. "Otou-san should be here soon."

"Alright, Kaito," his mother said. "You just get going."

"Right." He turned to Rio. "Let's go."

"Right," Rio said.

Then the two of them started for Ryoga's hospital room.

* * *

After that day, neither one of them had seen each other again. As soon as Kaito had escorted Rio to Ryoga's room, calls from the hospital staff sent Kaito running down the halls, towards his mother's hospital room, alongside a blond man who had just arrived.

Rio didn't even have a chance to thank him for his kindness.

As years slipped by, and Rio found herself in the hospital, the boy's face and name had vanished from her memory. When she finally reached middle school, she felt that she would never remember the boy at all; that any hope of so much as grasping the boy's name had become a dream.

Then she met Kaito Tenjo, and his little brother, Haruto.

* * *

"Mo! Ryoga!" Rio growled. "Why didn't he want to go to school with me? He's gonna get it when I get there."

She was taking a shortcut past the park and failed to notice someone turning a corner.

Ka-Bam!

Neither one had a chance to move out of the way in time.

"Ow," Rio groaned.

"You okay?" a voice said.

Rio suddenly felt a strange sense of deja vu. She looked up and saw a tall, young man with a black trench coat over a grey shirt with a red diamond shape in the center of his collar. His hair was blond with green fringe and his hand was held out to her to assist her in standing back up.

She accepted his hand and stood back up. Then she noticed something on his wrist.

An old scar.

"What's this?" Rio asked, placing her fingers on the scar.

"Huh?" The boy looked down. "Oh, this?" He pulled his wrist away. "It's nothing."

"Of course," Rio said. "Sorry I asked." Then she started back for school.

As the young boy was getting further and further out of eyeshot, she heard a little child say, "Nii-san, you coming?"

"Yeah, Haruto," the boy responded. "I'm coming."

Rio then turned her head and smiled.

Maybe she finally had found her Prince Charming again.

Just maybe.

* * *

* : **In Japanese, Kaito is using "Boku" instead of "Ore." **

**D.T.B: My first Kaito/Rio fanfic. Yay! Yippee! Please read, review, and remember. I might write more if I feel like it.**


End file.
